Was I forced to be a Christian for 25+ years?

Originally posted by @dj2becker
I don't recall having said anything about pretending anything.

From the point at which you realized that "things were amiss" and that you had been brainwashed and psychologically abused by a cult your whole life long ~ systematic and chronic abuse in which your parents had been complicit ~ until the point at which you left.

Originally posted by @fmf
From the point at which you realized that "things were amiss" and that you had been brainwashed and psychologically abused by a cult your whole life long ~ systematic and chronic abuse in which your parents had been complicit ~ until the point at which you left.

Why do you ask?

Originally posted by @dj2becker
I have never specifically asked you about grace, but oh well the predictable rip cord I'm-not-interested-in-answering-your-question-response should have been expected.

I have talked about the purpose and meaning that the belief in the grace of Christ affords Christians [including myself back when I was a Christian] many times, including in posts that I addressed to you and which you presumably read. I am not interested in this game you play where you ask about the same things over and over again as if you hadn't read what I'd written previously.

I am sorry if adults you trusted when you were developing your intellectual and interpersonal skills as a child, a teenager and a young man, bullied you in this way for years and years ~ if that's the reason why you post here the way you do ~ but I am not going to play along.

Originally posted by @dj2becker
Why do you ask?

Because when I asked you about what 'ability to decide what was credible and what wasn't' you claimed to have had during the 24 years of being brainwashed by your cult, you answered evasively by asking a question which clearly wasn't an answer. So it made me curious. You don't have to divulge any more than you want to about the damage that was done to you. It's up to you.

Originally posted by @fmf
I have talked about the purpose and meaning that the belief in the grace of Christ affords Christians [including myself back when I was a Christian] many times, including in posts that I addressed to you and which you presumably read. I am not interested in this game you play where you ask about the same things over and over again as if you hadn't read what I'd ...[text shortened]... ears ~ if that's the reason why you post here the way you do ~ but I am not going to play along.

Sure you have.

Seems your final resort is always an underhanded insult. Very mature indeed.

Originally posted by @fmf
Because when I asked you about what 'ability to decide what was credible and what wasn't' you claimed to have had during the 24 years of being brainwashed by your cult, you answered evasively by asking a question which clearly wasn't an answer. So it made me curious. You don't have to divulge any more than you want to about the damage that was done to you. It's up to you.

My ability to decide what was credible and what wasn't enabled me to leave the cult. If I didn't have free will or the ability to choose, I would still be there wouldn't I?

Originally posted by @dj2becker
Sure you have.

Seems your final resort is always an underhanded insult. Very mature indeed.

If what you have revealed about the abuse you suffered for most of your life is true then you are a victim and it probably explains your behaviour. Acknowledging this and making some allowance for it is not an "underhanded insult". To simply play along with your ignore-the-answer-ask-again-ignore-the-answer-ask-again routine and indulge you without protest would be both a genuine insult and disservice.

Originally posted by @dj2becker
My ability to decide what was credible and what wasn't enabled me to leave the cult. If I didn't have free will or the ability to choose, I would still be there wouldn't I?

So how long was it, in your estimation, between you developing an "ability to decide what was credible and what wasn't" even in the psychologically abusive and brainwashing environment you were trapped in, and you leaving that cult? It's an obvious and pertinent follow up question.

Originally posted by @fmf
If what you have revealed about the abuse you suffered for most of your life is true then you are a victim and it probably explains your behaviour. Acknowledging this and making some allowance for it is not an "underhanded insult". To simply play along with your ignore-the-answer-ask-again-ignore-the-answer-ask-again routine and indulge you without protest would be both a genuine insult and disservice.

Maybe someone else read what you wrote about what 'meaning and purpose grace gave you back in the day' and maybe they can corroborate your story and paraphrase what you said, but I certainly missed it. Anyhow to me it least it makes perfect sense why you wouldn't want to answer the questions or repeat it if in fact you have said it.

Originally posted by @fmf
So how long was it, in your estimation, between you developing an "ability to decide what was credible and what wasn't" even in the psychologically abusive and brainwashing environment you were trapped in, and you leaving that cult? It's an obvious and pertinent follow up question.

My ability to reason and compare my experiences with what the Bible actually teaches gave me the insight to see that many of the rules were man made and not in the Bible and thus not from God as I was lead to believe for some time. I cannot put an exact timeframe on when I first smelled a rat to when I finally left, but it was over a period of a few years.

Originally posted by @dj2becker
Maybe someone else read what you wrote about what 'meaning and purpose grace gave you back in the day' and maybe they can corroborate your story and paraphrase what you said, but I certainly missed it.

I talked about it in posts I addressed to you. If you're not willing to corroborate it, then it looks like I have been well and truly stuffed and sussed by your ingenious conversation technique, especially if "someone else" fails to come along. Oh deary me.

Originally posted by @dj2becker
Anyhow to me it least it makes perfect sense why you wouldn't want to answer the questions or repeat it if in fact you have said it.

Ah yes, and here's your passive aggressive punchline, right on time, and in exactly the same place it appears time and time again.

Originally posted by @dj2becker
My ability to reason and compare my experiences with what the Bible actually teaches gave me the insight to see that many of the rules were man made and not in the Bible and thus not from God as I was lead to believe for some time. I cannot put an exact timeframe on when I first smelled a rat to when I finally left, but it was over a period of a few years.

So you kept your head down and pretended to go along with the cult, obey it, and agree with its treatment of its victims "over a period of a few years" before leaving?

Originally posted by @fmf
I talked about it in posts I addressed to you. If you're not willing to corroborate it, then it looks like I have been well and truly stuffed and sussed by your conversation technique, especially if "someone else" fails to come along. Oh deary me.

I'm sure you would have repeated it if was worth repeating and if you had in fact talked about it in the first place.

Originally posted by @fmf
So you kept your head down and pretended to go along with the cult, obey it, and agree with its treatment of its victims "over a period of a few years" before leaving?

No that's not what I said. Reread what I wrote. Besides, where are you heading with this? Are you hoping to prove to me that I too was a robot devoid of free will?